Throughout 2015 the world has been celebrating the 400th anniversary of the publication of Miguel de Cervantes novel, Don Quixote. We've also been celebrating on KPAC's weekly Classics a la Carte, focusing upon a variety of different musical tellings of the many adventures of Don Quixote and his sidekick, Sancho Panza.
One of the most famous of these is Richard Strauss' theme with variations based upon 10 of Cervantes adventures (or should one say misadventures). The work features a solo cello part, representing Quixote, and a combination of viola, bass clarinet and tenor tuba representing Sancho Panza.
Adorning the cover of one of the finest recordings of Richard Strauss' Don Quixote, that with Fritz Reiner and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, is a painting of Don Quixote and Sancho by Honore Daumier. You remember that, don't you, when creative art once graced the jackets of many of our recordings?
